St. Paul hosts Pheasant Fest January 18-20

December 14, 2007|Berdette Zastrow, bzastrow@nvc.net

Anniversaries call for a celebration and Pheasants Forever is no different. Come and celebrate PF's 25th anniversary at National Pheasant Fest in the RiverCentre, St. Paul, Minn., Jan. 18-20, 2008. The 2008 convention is the largest and most complete event in PF's history. Over 25,000 people attended the third-ever Fest last year in Des Moines. Exhibit booth rentals for 2008 have surpassed last year's amount of 650. The Fest, presented by Cabela's, is the nation's largest event for upland hunters, farmers, sport dog owners and wildlife habitat conservationists. The trade show will focus on wildlife conservation, upland game bird hunting, dog training and wildlife habitat establishment and restoration. You can attend seminars, workshops and clinics by top professionals and hunting manufacturers every hour on habitat improvement, pheasant hunting, shooting sports, wild game cooking, dog training, conservation and more. World class displays and exhibits, taxidermy displays, youth wildlife art contest, hands-on shooting and fishing opportunities, interactive virtual reality shooting village, virtual pheasant hunting and wildlife game hunting displays will entertain all weekend. PF works especially hard to involve youth in learning about the outdoors and conservation. The Youth Village was a hit last year and even more is promised in St. Paul. The village includes shooting instruction, interactive displays and seminars, 4-H shooting activities and hunter safety programs for kids. If you desire a fun and safe place for your children while attending the Fest, consider the Pheasant Fest Family Camp-In, located directly across the street from the RiverCentre at the Science Museum of Minnesota. There will be science and conservation-themed activities all night long at the camp-in, from star gazing and taxidermy, to big-screen gaming, classes and demonstrations, special movies, gaming activities and other programming in the one-of-a-kind, digital 3D Cinema Auditorium. The Omni Theater, pizza dinner buffet, late-night snack, continental breakfast and amazing science galleries are included. Whether you are 7 or 70, like to hunt or not, interested in wildlife and the outdoors, conservation, art, hunting dogs or any other related subject, you will find it in St. Paul. Nowhere else can you enter huge exhibit buildings and be overwhelmed by all things PHEASANT. The colors grab you first - blaze orange and camo everything! Shop for anything you can imagine concerning upland game hunting and pheasants. One of the Fest highlights will be an expanded Bird Dog Bonanza, including an increased Bird Dog Area, Bird Dog Alley and Friday's Bird Dog Parade. Over 100 different breeds of hunting dogs were represented last year, making a stroll through Bird Dog Alley one of the most fun activities of the weekend. No one can resist little puppies, and there were plenty of them in different breeds, sizes and colors. Breeders will be on hand to explain their particular breed so you can make comparisons on what breed would suit you and your hunting. Just in time for holiday gift-giving, advance tickets are now available. For the special price of $30, an advance ticket includes floor admission for the entire three-day weekend, a one-year PF membership, free PF hat, and subscription to Pheasants Forever Journal. For more information visit www.pheasantsforever.org or call 877-773-2070. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my four readers and I'll see you all in St. Paul in January! Berdette Zastrow, a freelance writer from Columbia, is author of Woman's Guide to Hunting. She writes a monthly column for the Outdoors Page and can be reached at bzastrow@nvc.net.